Conjugate vivre (+avoir) in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2023-01-23

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In Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) (conversational past), the verb vivre (to live) and derivatives* use the auxiliary avoir and have an irregular past participle :

Conjugation of VIVRE (to live) in in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) in French

j'ai vécu

tu as vécu

il/elle/on a vécu

nous avons vécu

vous avez vécu

ils/elles ont vécu

Here's the pattern to conjugate vivre in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) :

avoir in Le Présent (Indicatif) + vécu

Note that with avoir as an auxiliary, past participles never agree with the subject of the verb:

Il a vécu à Paris il y a deux ans.He lived in Paris two years ago.

Elle a vécu en Italie il y a sept ans.She lived in Italy seven years ago.

* Other verbs in -vivre follow the same conjugation:

survivre (to survive) -> j'ai survécu
revivre (to live again) -> j'ai revécu

Listen to these sentences:

J'ai vécu à Paris avant de m'installer ici.I lived in Paris before moving here.

Et tu y as vécu longtemps ?And you lived there for a long time?

Il a survécu après tout.He survived after all.

Nous avons vécu à Toulouse de 2002 à 2012.We lived in Toulouse from 2002 to 2012.

Vous seul avez survécu au naufrage.Only you survived the shipwreck.

Ils ont vécu heureux pendant de nombreuses années.They lived happily for many years.

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